2011 deaths

Wah-leong "Wally" Jay (June 15, 1917 – May 29, 2011), was an American martial artist who primarily studied and taught jujutsu and judo. He was the founder of the Gendai Budo martial art Small Circle JuJitsu.

Peggy Jane Rea (March 31, 1921 – February 5, 2011) was an American actress known for her many roles in television, often playing matronly characters.

Clarice Taylor (September 20, 1917 – May 30, 2011) was an American stage, film and television actress. She is best known for playing Cousin Emma on Sanford and Son and the mother of Cliff Huxtable, Anna Huxtable on The Cosby Show. and Mrs. Brooks in Five on the Black Hand Side (1973).

Christopher Arnold "Duke" Iversen (February 26, 1920 – May 20, 2011) was an American football player who played five seasons in the National Football League (NFL) and All-America Football Conference (AAFC) with the New York Giants, New York Yankees and New York Yanks. He was drafted by the New York Giants in the seventh round of the 1947 NFL Draft. He played college football at the University of Oregon and attended Petaluma High School in Petaluma, California. His family's name was spelled "Iverson" but a doctor misspelled it as "Iversen" on Duke's birth certificate.

Tom Hennesy (August 4, 1923 – May 23, 2011) was an American actor and stuntman. He is known for playing the Gill-man (on land) in Revenge of the Creature, the second installment of the Creature from the Black Lagoon trilogy.

Juno Stover-Irwin (November 22, 1928 – July 2, 2011) was a four-time Olympic diver for the United States in 1948, 1952, 1956 and 1960 Primarily a 10-meter platform performer, Irwin was a native of Los Angeles, California; she attended Hoover High School and Glendale Community College.
Juno was three and a half months pregnant when she took the bronze medal at the Helsinki Olympic Games. She travelled to competitions with her ukulele which she played for relaxation and enjoyment.

Ruth Stone (June 8, 1915 – November 19, 2011) was an award-winning American poet.

Keith Walton Tantlinger (March 22, 1919 – August 27, 2011) was a mechanical engineer and inventor. As Vice President of Engineering at the Fruehauf Trailer Corporation his inventions played a major role in containerization. Working with a Fruehauf customer, Malcom McLean, they spearheaded the container ship revolution in the 1950s, Tantlinger developed much of the early technology that made modern container shipping possible while at Fruehauf. After its initial order of containers from Brown Trailer, Sea-Land switched to containers made by the Strick division of the Fruehauf Trailer Company. Fruehauf had been one of the dominant players in building truck bodies and trailers for a long time, and, as already described, had previously innovated in the design and construction of the early commercial semi-trailers. President Roy Fruehauf was impressed with the idea of containerization, so in addition to manufacturing containers for Sea-Land his company agreed to make the trailer chassis that were needed, and also to provide financing to Sea-Land for the purchase of these containers and chassis.
In 1958 Tantlinger left Sea-Land and became chief engineer at Fruehauf, where he continued to work with containers. More importantly, over the years he played a key role in the process of container standardization, working extensively on a committee of the American Standards Association (ASA) and later being critically involved with the ISO's efforts. His designs included the corner casting and Twistlock systems found on every intermodal container, the spreader bar for automatic securing of containers lifted on and off ships, and the ship-shore container transfer apparatus for the first cellular container ship. In the course of his professional career, Tantlinger was granted 79 United States patents, all related to transportation equipment. Many of his patents related to commercial highway freight trailers and transit buses.

John Jacob "Jay" Rhodes III (September 8, 1943 – January 20, 2011) was a Republican Representative from Arizona's 1st congressional district.

Gordon St. Angelo (June 20, 1927 – October 18, 2011) born in Huntingburg, Indiana, US was a former Democratic Party State Chairman of the state of Indiana and was a prominent politician during the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s.
Gordon was born on June 20, 1927, to George and Lillian (Salat) St. Angelo in Huntingburg, Indiana. He served in the Navy at the end of World War II. He then attended North Central College, where he was active in student politics. He there met his future wife Beatrice Mae Larson, who was from Watertown, South Dakota. Gordon became active in Democratic Party politics in 1954. He was elected Dubois County Chairman in 1958. An early key supporter of then Senator John F. Kennedy, he became 8th District Chairman in 1960.
St. Angelo worked on two presidential campaigns including holding the position of National Co-chairman of Humphrey for President Committee. He was also manager of Roger Branigin's successful campaign for the governorship of Indiana in 1964. After managing the campaign of Governor Roger D. Branigan in 1964, Gordon was elected state Democratic Party Chairman, a position he held until 1974. His tenure was longer than that of any party chairman in Indiana. From 1974 to 1996, he was vice-president of Community Development for the Lilly Endowment, and during this time was a vocal proponent for the development of free market economies in North and South America.
Gordon's political reach extended beyond the state. He was Deputy Democratic Party National Chairman from June to November, 1968, when he helped manage the Hubert Humphrey presidential campaign. In 1974 Gordon left politics to become Senior Program Officer of community development at the Lilly Endowment, where he loved working for twenty three years. There he was instrumental in expanding the role of non-profits in public policy, with many positive civil- and individual-rights implications. His building of coalitions between non-profit think tanks was instrumental in the passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement. In 1973, he ran for National Democratic Party chairman, being narrowly defeated by Larry O'Brien.Gordon also served on the boards of the University of Indianapolis (1965-1993), St. Meinrad College, WFYI, the United Way, the Welfare Service League, the State Employment Commission, the Indiana Division of the National Civil Rights Commission, and the Indianapolis 500 Festival Committee. Starting with his work at the Lilly Endowment, Gordon and Beatty took special interest in historic New Harmony, Indiana which they visited often. He was appointed by Governor Evan Bayh to the New Harmony Commission and served on the board of the Robert Lee Blaffer Foundation until his death (chairman, 1995–2006). He received honorary doctorates from the University of Indianapolis and the University of Southern Indiana. He received "Sagamore of the Wabash" awards for his service to Indiana from Governors Welsh, Branigan, Whitcomb, Bowen, Orr, Bayh and Daniels.In 1996, St. Angelo helped create a foundation with Nobel Laureate Milton Friedman and his wife, Rose Friedman to promote and help establish educational choice in America. He served as President & CEO of the Milton and Rose D. Friedman Foundation for School Choice until 2009.
Though he started his career in the Democratic party, he was a supporter of many Republican candidates since the mid-seventies. For example, he endorsed Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels, a Republican, for both of his gubernatorial campaigns.
St. Angelo died on October 18, 2011, in Indianapolis, Indiana.